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D. Gile Critical reading 1
CRITICAL READING
Daniel Gile
www.cirinandgile.com
D. Gile Critical reading 2
ERRORS ARE UNIVERSAL
In ResearchEVERYBODY MAKES ERRORS !!!
Because of:
KNOWLEDGE LIMITATIONS- Crossing Expertise Borderlines
field of expertiselanguage
methodology- Unavailable data
- Time lag in updates
D. Gile Critical reading 3
PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS
- Bias-induced distortions
- Excessive familiarity with subject, ‘mental ruts'
- Attention fluctuations
STATISTICAL FACTORS
- Large mass of details
- In particular names and numbers
D. Gile Critical reading 4
CRITICISM:An essential
PREVENTIVE / REMEDIAL TOOLAND A MAJOR DRIVER OF SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS
Can help:
CORRECT FACTS and IDEAS(analysis, theory, criticism)
CORRECT STYLE
ADD INFORMATION(bibliographical, factual)
INCREASE RECIPIENT'S AWARENESS OF PROBLEMS
D. Gile Critical reading 5
Most useful & least painful/harmful during:
- DESIGN- PLANNING
of research project
Very useful during- IMPLEMENTATION
- REFEREEING/EDITING
Can also be useful, but more painful/harmful- AFTER ORAL PAPER PRESENTATION
- DURING DEFENSE OF THESIS- AFTER PUBLICATION
D. Gile Critical reading 6
POTENTIAL SOURCES OF GOOD CRITICISM
- Experts/seniors:Advisors/supervisors
Referees:'External experts'
(Expertise)
- Peers:(More objective than author)
Non-experts:(Outsider's view, problems more salient,
but less relevant knowledge and expertise)
D. Gile Critical reading 7
MUCH CRITICISM IS UNJUSTIFIED
(Often due to misinterpretation)
but also
- Showing off- Self-centredness
(looking at one’s own interests and priorities without acknowledging the author’s)
- Self-defence(if assessors believe their ideas/work
are challenged in the text)
D. Gile Critical reading 8
but CRITICSM can be
USEFUL EVEN IF UNJUSTIFIED
Makes author aware of:- Ambiguities
- Insufficiently explicit formulation- Unclear formulation
Also shows Critic's: - personal bias- 'political' bias
- attitudes- competence
(or lack thereof)
D. Gile Critical reading 9
CRITICISM IS “BAD” / OF LITTLE USE if:
- IRRELEVANT(loss of time)
- DISHONEST
GOOD CRITICISM IS GIVING(time, attention)
STUDENTS RECEIVE FREE CRITICISMEXPERTS RECEIVE LITTLE GOOD CRITICISM
AND SOME/MUCH 'POLITICAL' CRITICISM(Sociological factors)
ASK FOR IT, TAKE IT, THINK ABOUT ITthen
ACCEPT IT OR REJECT IT
D. Gile Critical reading 10
Beginners:
UNDERSTAND THE REASON FOR CRITICISM
YOU RECEIVE
ASSESS THE CRITICISM CRITICALLY
Defend yourself only
if you think the criticism is unjustified
and may harm you
Sometimes, accepting the criticism gracefully
even if you think it is not justified
is the best strategy
(Defence of thesis)
D. Gile Critical reading 11
OPERATIONAL PRINCIPLES
Introductory reminder:
CRITICAL READING IS:
Information collection + Analysis
with
Identification of strengths and weaknesses
D. Gile Critical reading 12
1. READ FOR CONSTRUCTIVE REASONS
- Gaining information for one's own purposes
(gain information for one's own study)
- Disseminating information for the benefit of others
(Reviews, bibliographical reports)
- Preparing for better work
(Studying other people's strengths and weaknesses)
- Helping others do better work
(Reporting and advising)
D. Gile Critical reading 13
2. MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND BEFORE ASSESSING
Misperceptions are rife
The author-is-no-fool principle
3. BE SKEPTICAL TOWARDS YOUR OWN CRITICISM
Personal bias is ever-present
Double-check if initially negative reaction
D. Gile Critical reading 14
STRUCTURE OF A CRITICAL READING REPORT (AS AN EXERCISE)
1. DESCRIPTION
Objectives
Method(s)
Results
Discussion/Conclusion
2. ASSESSMENT OF SUBSTANCE
….
3. ASSESSMENT OF FORM
….
D. Gile Critical reading 15
1. COMPREHENSION (1): AUTHOR’S OBJECTIVES
Research question
Hypothesis
Exploratory goals
- Try to understand why the objectives were chosen
- Assessment should be a based on the author's objectives,
Not on the assessor’s interests
D. Gile Critical reading 16
1. COMPREHENSION (2): AUTHOR’S METHOD
- Theoretical development/logical testing/empirical
- Observational/Experimental
-Survey/Interview/Text analysis/Lab experiment
...
What did the author actually do ?
Could you explain the procedure in a few sentences ?
D. Gile Critical reading 17
RESULTS OF THE STUDY- Facts
- Categories- Numbers- Opinions
AUTHOR'S CONCLUSIONS(If any)
- Hypothesis strengthened or not- Valuable method or not
- Problems discovered- Other methods/further studies required
D. Gile Critical reading 18
2. ASSESSMENT of SUBSTANCE
OBJECTIVES
- Relevant to general issue?
- Useful?
- Feasible?
METHOD
(Design, implementation)
- Appropriate?
- Best under circumstances?
- Can you think of a better one?
D. Gile Critical reading 19
FACTS- Correct?
- Were all available and relevant facts used?
BIBLIOGRAPHY- Are the most relevant references there?
- Is the list up-to-date?
- Are all entries correct?
(Spelling, year, pages, publisher, place)
- Do all entries have enough added value?
- 'Political' bias (positive or negative)?
D. Gile Critical reading 20
INFERENCES- Logically appropriate?
(No skipping, over-interpreting, over-generalizing)
- Explicit, including references/explanations?
- Are facts fully exploited?
- Statistics
CONCLUSION
- Based on results?
(inferences OK?)
D. Gile Critical reading 21
3. ASSESSMENT of PRESENTATION
STRUCTURE OF TEXT- Internal "logic"- Explanations
(Objectives, method, inferences)- Balance between the various parts
- Excessive length ?
LANGUAGE- Clear?
- Correct?- Wordy?
- Terminology(Appropriate, explained, typographical highlighting)
D. Gile Critical reading 22
CONVENTIONS- Explicitness
- Style
- Typographical conventions
- Bibliography
ILLUSTRATIONS- Clear?
- Justified?
BIBLIOGRAPHY- Body of text vs. List of references
- Full references? (pages, publisher, place)
D. Gile Critical reading 23
OVERALL ASSESSMENT DEPENDING ON TYPE OF ASSESSMENT
- For improvement(giving advice - careful)
- For learning(noting - straightforward)
- For testing(theses/dissertations, papers/projects
in selection procedures):depends on selection criteria
- For dissemination(careful)
DIFFERENT RELATIVE WEIGHTS of- innovative content, norm compliance,
- quality of presentation
D. Gile Critical reading 24
PRACTICAL ADVICE (1)
- Read with pencil and paper.
- Use pencil to underline and write in margins
- Always write down full references of text
(including place where available)
- Write down verbatim important text segments
- Write synopsis of objectives, methods, results and conclusion
D. Gile Critical reading 25
PRACTICAL ADVICE (2)
- Write down verbatim segments that you are going to criticize
- Read several times any segment
that you feel critical about to make sure your criticism is justified
- Try to get clarification from author by writing to him/her
- Symbols for relative importance
(underlining, *)
- Keyword method
(Note keywords in the margins)
D. Gile Critical reading 26
REPORTING/REVIEWING
MUST BE USEFUL TO RECIPIENTS- (Readers or decision makers)
and, if possible, to author
Provide Assessment + Information- If negative, not more than necessary- List strong points and weaknesses- Also give an overall assessment
- For each point, try to indicate facts- Careful with criticism: make sure it is justified- Try to send draft report to author for reaction
(Sometimes your misperceptions can be corrected)
D. Gile Critical reading 27
EXERCICE
READ TEXT X CRITICALLY
WRITE IN max. 200 WORDS A CLEAR AND INFORMATIVE SUMMARY OF ITS CONTENT
WRITE A CRITICAL REPORT EVALUATING
- THE DESIGN AS A FUNCTION OF THE OBJECTIVE
- THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DESIGN
- THE INFERENCES MADE
- WHERE DOES THE INNOVATION OF THE WORK LIE?
- HOW WOULD YOU RATE THE OVERALL VALUE OF THE TEXT?
( 0 NIL - 1 LOW - 2 MODERATE - 3 HIGH - 4 VERY HIGH)
FOR EACH ‘NEGATIVE’ CRITICISM, PROVIDE AT LEAST ONE EXAMPLE FROM THE TEXT TO BACK IT